[BBLISA] local vendors for Intel servers?

[Eric J. Hansen]

> stephen wadlow wrote:
> > That sounds more like bad luck with motherboards instead of 
> a vendor 
> > problem.
> 
> Agreed. I wouldn't fault PCFE for a bad batch of hardware, unless it 
> seems like a chronic problem due to them using poor quality suppliers.

I don't entirely agree.  This is what burn-in periods are for.  And while PCFE does burn-ins, I think part of the issue is that
they don't always build/supply the equipment themselves, and thus QC is inconsistent.  The last rack system we bought from them
came with a burn/test report from a different vendor (and it tooks about 4 weeks to receive the system).  After deploying it at
a customer site, a drive failed within 3 weeks, and now we've got to deal with fixing the issue.

> > I've done well with PCFE, and have dozens of rackmount servers from 
> > them. ... Sure, I've had problems, but that's true of any vendor...
> 
> I've used PCFE to build custom systems for clients over the 
> years, and 
> while the systems have always worked, there have almost always been 
> small problems with them, such as the wrong components installed, 
> bundled software not loaded, or mechanical problems with the assembly.

I've had the same problem.  I've bought from them on/off for about 8 years, and in that time I've had a half dozen systems fail,
and two cases of wrong parts being installed.

> (If you're buying systems for in-house use, these small 
> problems may be 
> no big deal, but if you're providing them to clients, the added labor 
> costs negates any cost and convenience benefit to using PCFE.)

Very true.

> > Service is _much_ different if you approach the place as a
> > business, and establish a relationship, instead of walking 
> in off the
> > street.
> 
> I attempted to do this, and did have a specific sales rep. I 
> dealt with 
> for a while, but I found response from their sales staff - at 
> least via 
> email - to be sporadic at best.

Same experience here.  The biggest recurring problem is being misled about inventory and delivery/ship times.

In any event, we've gone ahead and ordered from serversdirect.com out of California.  From order date (today), they committed to
shipping 3 Xeon boxes on May 2 (next Tues).  If there's interest from the group, I'll provide a post-hoc report about product
quality, follow-through, support, etc.

cheers
Eric